When a kitchen reaches 28 degrees in summer, the first question is whether that breaks a rule. The Turkish Regulation on Specific Hygiene Rules for Food of Animal Origin gives a room figure only for rooms where meat is cut, boned and packed; the aim is to hold the meat temperature throughout the work.
| Room | Product maximum | Room maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Red meat (Article 15) | Meat 7 °C, offal 3 °C | 12 °C or equivalent method |
| Poultry and rabbit meat (Article 22) | 4 °C | 12 °C or equivalent method |
No such figure is set for a production kitchen with hobs and ovens. There the measure is how much chilled product warms while it waits on the bench. Heat flow grows with the difference between product and air, so a fifteen-minute wait warms product far more in a 32-degree summer kitchen than in a 22-degree one.
As the kitchen warms, batches are made smaller, each finished portion goes straight into a pre-chilled container, and full containers wait in a cold area instead of at the dispatch door. Air temperature is read at bench height; product temperature is measured separately.
